Day: July 9, 2018

Book Read A Test of Poetry by Louis Zukofsky

By juxtaposing several translations of the same passage from Homer an elegy from Ovid and lines from Herrick that read like an adaptation of Ovid or a 15th century poem about a rooster and a contemporary poem about white chickens, Louis Zukofsky has established a means for judging the values of poetic writing.A wonderful education for the fledgling poet, this handbook, f By juxtaposing several translations of the same passage from Homer an elegy from Ovid and lines from Herrick that read like an adaptation of Ovid or a 15th century poem about a rooster and a contemporary poem about white chickens, Louis Zukofsky has established a means for judging the values of poetic writing.A wonderful education for the fledgling poet, this handbook, first published in 1948, is the best elucidation of Zukofsky s objectivist premises for recognizing value in specific instances of poetry

All Patrick O Brian s strengths are on parade in this novel of action and intrigue, set partly in Malta, partly in the treacherous, pirate infested waters of the Red Sea While Captain Aubrey worries about repairs to his ship, Stephen Maturin assumes the center stage for the dockyards and salons of Malta are alive with Napoleon s agents, and the admiralty s intelligence ne All Patrick O Brian s strengths are on parade in this novel of action and intrigue, set partly in Malta, partly in the treacherous, pirate infested waters of the Red Sea While Captain Aubrey worries about repairs to his ship, Stephen Maturin assumes the center stage for the dockyards and salons of Malta are alive with Napoleon s agents, and the admiralty s intelligence network is compromised Maturin s cunning is the sole bulwark against sabotage of Aubrey s daring mission

The Reverse of the Medal (Aubrey/Maturin, #11) Book by Patrick O'Brian

When Captain Jack Aubrey, R N., ashore after a successful cruise, is persuaded to make certain investments in the city, this innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage Is Aubrey s humiliation and the threatened ruin of his career a deliberate plot

The Nutmeg of Consolation (Aubrey/Maturin, #14) PDF by Patrick O'Brian

Shipwrecked When Captain Aubrey and his crew go aground on a remote island, they labor to construct a seaworthy schooner from the wreckage taking breaks, of course, to play cricket Their subsequent adventures lead them to the dreaded penal colony at Botany Bay, and then, as always, back to sea.

The Wine-Dark Sea (Aubrey/Maturin, #16) PDF by Patrick O'Brian

At the outset of this adventure filled with disaster and delight, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin pursue an American privateer through the Great South Sea The strange color of the ocean reminds Stephen of Homer s famous description, and portends an underwater volcanic eruption that will create a new island overnight and leave an indelible impression on the reader s imagin At the outset of this adventure filled with disaster and delight, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin pursue an American privateer through the Great South Sea The strange color of the ocean reminds Stephen of Homer s famous description, and portends an underwater volcanic eruption that will create a new island overnight and leave an indelible impression on the reader s imagination.Their ship, the Surprise, is now also a privateer, the better to escape diplomatic complications from Stephen s mission, which is to ignite the revolutionary tinder of South America Jack will survive a desperate open boat journey and come face to face with his illegitimate black son Stephen, caught up in the aftermath of his failed coup, will flee for his life into the high, frozen wastes of the Andes and Patrick O Brian s brilliantly detailed narrative will reunite them at last in a breathtaking chase through stormy seas and icebergs south of Cape Horn, where the hunters suddenly become the hunted

The Yellow Admiral (Aubrey/Maturin, #18) Book by Patrick O'Brian

Life ashore may once again be the undoing of Jack Aubrey in The Yellow Admiral, Patrick O Brian s best selling novel and eighteenth volume in the Aubrey Maturin series Aubrey, now a considerable though impoverished landowner, has dimmed his prospects at the Admiralty by his erratic voting as a Member of Parliament he is feuding with his neighbor, a man with strong Navy c Life ashore may once again be the undoing of Jack Aubrey in The Yellow Admiral, Patrick O Brian s best selling novel and eighteenth volume in the Aubrey Maturin series Aubrey, now a considerable though impoverished landowner, has dimmed his prospects at the Admiralty by his erratic voting as a Member of Parliament he is feuding with his neighbor, a man with strong Navy connections who wants to enclose the common land between their estates he is on even worse terms with his wife, Sophie, whose mother has ferreted out a most damaging trove of old personal letters Even Jack s exploits at sea turn sour in the storm waters off Brest he captures a French privateer laden with gold and ivory, but this at the expense of missing a signal and deserting his post Worst of all, in the spring of 1814, peace breaks out, and this feeds into Jack s private fears for his career.Fortunately, Jack is not left to his own devices Stephen Maturin returns from a mission in France with the news that the Chileans, to secure their independence, require a navy, and the service of English officers Jack is savoring this apparent reprieve for his career, as well as Sophie s forgiveness, when he receives an urgent dispatch ordering him to Gibraltar Napoleon has escaped from Elba

Book Read Online Blue at the Mizzen (Aubrey/Maturin, #20) by Patrick O'Brian

Almost three decades after commencing his maritime epic with Master and Commander, Patrick O Brian is still at it The 20th episode, Blue at the Mizzen, is another swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, complete with romantic escapades from smoggy London to Sierra Leone, diplomacy, espionage, the intricacies of warfare, and imperial brinksmanship As always, these event Almost three decades after commencing his maritime epic with Master and Commander, Patrick O Brian is still at it The 20th episode, Blue at the Mizzen, is another swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, complete with romantic escapades from smoggy London to Sierra Leone, diplomacy, espionage, the intricacies of warfare, and imperial brinksmanship As always, these events are bound up in the ongoing friendship between two officers of the Royal Navy Jack Aubrey is the naval captain, bold yet compassionate, innovative yet cautious, as fearless in war as he is bumbling in affairs of the heart and household His boon companion Stephen Maturin is the ship s surgeon and additionally a spy for the British government, a wealthy Catalonian aristocrat, a doting Irish father, and an avid naturalist.That may sound like a lot to keep track of However, it s not necessary to carry around a scorecard or ship s roster while reading Blue at the Mizzen The ostensible issue is whether Jack will finally be promoted to Admiral of the Blue But long before he hears any word from the Napoleonic era s equivalent of Personnel, he loses half his crew to desertion, his ship undergoes a disastrous collision, and the entire company comes close to perishing in the ice choked seas off Cape Horn Meanwhile, the widowed Maturin issues a surprising proposal of marriage to a beautiful, mud bespattered fellow naturalist while trekking through an African mangrove swamp The two lovebirds happen to be searching for a rare variant of Caprimulgus longipennis , the long tailed nightjar, which they hope to surprise in full mating plumage Still, this is hardly a plot driven novel O Brian takes time to get anywhere, and invariably enjoys the journey than the arrival So even as we get constant hints of the climax to come Jack s spectacular naval action on behalf of the infant Republic of Chile we don t mind hearing about the nuances of shipboard existence or the secret life of the white faced tree duck We re treated, for example, to this snippet about managed care, circa 1816 Poll, Maggie and a horse leech from the starboard watch have been administering enemas to the many, many cases of gross surfeit that have now replaced the frostbites, torsions, and debility of the recent past, the very recent past Strong, fresh, seal meat has not its equal for upsetting the seaman s metabolism he is much better kept on biscuits, Essex cheese, and a very little well seethed salt pork kept on short commons And we re grateful We can only hope that the elderly author will favor us with at least one novel, so that his avid followers can avoid their own form of short commons Life without Aubrey and Maturin would be a deprivation indeed Andrew Himes

Book Read Ezra Pound: Translations by Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound is destined to rank as one of the great translators of all time Ranging through many languages, he chose for translation writers whose work marked a significant turning point in the development of world literature, or key poems which exemplify what is most vital in a given period or genre This new enlarged edition, devoted chiefly to poetry, includes some fort Ezra Pound is destined to rank as one of the great translators of all time Ranging through many languages, he chose for translation writers whose work marked a significant turning point in the development of world literature, or key poems which exemplify what is most vital in a given period or genre This new enlarged edition, devoted chiefly to poetry, includes some forty pages of previously uncollected material Anglo Saxon The Seafarer Chinese Cathay Rihaku Li Po Bunno, Mei Sheng, T ao Yuan Ming Egyptian Conversations in Courtship French du Bellay, de Boufflers, D Orl ans, Lalorgue, Lubicz Milosz, Rimbaud, Tailhade Prose de Gourmont Hindi Kabir Italian Cavalcanti, St Francis, Guinicelli, Leopardi, Montanari, Orlandi Japanese Noh Plays 15 plays with Fenollosa s commentary Latin Catullus, Horace, Navagero, Rutilius Proven al Bertrand de Born, Cercalmon, Daniel, Folquet de Romans, Li Viniers, Ventadorn